Stranger Aeons is a well educated mercenary group specializing in defending scientific, ecological, and historical items. They become caught up in a trail of events leading to rumors of Japanese war plunder. Realistic tactical action.

I'd like to thank you
for reading Stranger Aeons! One thing I find annoying is how most
"action" stories tend to be either shoddy fantasy and scifi (not
even worthy of being called "pulp") or half-hearted attempts to
make an "action movie" type feel. (This includes published
novels, as well.) For SA, I wanted to remedy both of those. While a
"happy ending" is another such cliché, I did want to leave the
story open ended. If you want a happy ending (for the primary
narrator), JC recovers. If you want a sad one, he dies from his
injuries. Many people have died from blood loss even after being
taken to a hospital. Likewise, the human body can sometimes continue
to function when large amounts of blood has been lost.

The bit about the twins
in the finale is a teaser for a follow up series to SA. A largely
different cast will be involved, and it will be stand alone. The
Network and Brigade are both elements from my "I-War" and its
sequel, "Infoduel," novels. A few characters and technologies
also made an appearance. Nemo was a primary character in "I-War."
Kimura and Scarecrew were first mentioned in "Infoduel." Morphium
darts were a prominent weapons technology in both. More information
on Holy Cross Ministries is in "I-War." Mjolnir in the novel is
based on real life electrified water cannons, and was used to show
JC's inventiveness.

Many novels often
forsake realistic professionalism of a lot of jobs for drama. I tried
to counteract this as much as I could, but a few changes were made
for a heightened sense of drama. I tried to incorporate more
realistic tactics, weapons, and technologies than most fiction. The
main characters are not action heroes, but largely successful since
most of their foes are normally untrained or unprepared for many of
the things they find.

The characters are more
professionals, viewing their mercenary work as a job. As much as
character development was something I wanted to try out more, I
wanted to ensure I got the format of writing semi-stream of
consciousness narration of each of the action scenes. I find the idea
of a non-state actor (such as the Network or Brigade) to be a far
more interesting patron for mercenary work than common stereotypes
and political strawmen. While some political ramblings in SA appear,
they are more of a technoprogressive and technolibertarian sort
(given the ideals of the Network). Some low-intensity warfare and
occasional small scale firefights (especially in urban areas) are
likely to be the future of war. Handfuls of non-state actors facing
off with each other behind the scenes is far more interesting than
yet another Tom Clancy clone full of political rambling.

I always try to pull
the curtain back at the end of a longer story, and explain some of
the realism behind the fiction. Now, a bit of information on each of
the areas, areas, and groups involved:

-Somali Pirates: Piracy
is something that has never truly died out. With the collapse of its
central government and many foreign ships over-fishing its waters,
many fishermen began arming themselves and taking vessels. Recently,
the pirates have used motherships to allow themselves to operate much
farther offshore. Many vessels have used novel ways to defend
themselves, from a sound weapon that deafened pirates to hiring
mercenaries armed with pistols and fire hoses.

-Hong Kong Triads: The
Triads are secret societies in Hong Kong that eventually became
criminal organizations. Made famous in Hong Kong action cinema, the
Triads held significant influence in Hong Kong and abroad. Due to the
difficulty of getting guns, most used cleavers, machetes, and blades
as their weapons of choice. While the HK police force is one of the
least corrupt in the world, their task of dislodging the Triads is
often a hard one.

-The Zetas: Los Zetas
are a group of former elite Mexican soldiers who became mercenaries
for the powerful drug cartels along the border. They are believed to
be the most technologically advanced, organized, sophisticated, and
violent group in Mexico now. They are also believed to be expanding
operations internationally, from the USA to Italy. Many of them are
training recruits and operating as a clandestine army.

-Urban
Exploration/Infiltration: Many history fans risk life, limb, and
arrest to enter old and often unsafe areas of cities and towns. In
NYC, the abandoned subways and sewers provide many temptations for
exploration. The building and train station were fictional in case of
the story. Many old subway stations were often ornately decorated,
though.

-Biohacking: Biohackers
and open-source geneticists are a real life movement. Some make their
own transgenic organisms (although these are more often glow in the
dark algae or something of the sort). Some have been using them to
make biofuels and transgenic plants for their own gardens. With Big
Business ensuring they hold a monopoly on certain organisms, open
source genetics may be seen as a way to challenge this.

-Opium in Afghanistan:
Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium in the world. While the
Taliban suppressed growth of opium, the war and occupation allowed
plenty of room for opium farmers to make a comeback. Smuggling of the
opium does indeed go into China along its short border with the
country. The information regarding Soviet bombs shaped like toys is
true, as are the sad fact that the Taliban destroyed many of the
country's fine works of art (such as two massive Buddha statues).

-Korean Skirmishes: An
occasional border skirmish along the DMZ is not unheard of. But at
least on land, borders can be a bit more certain. At sea, there are
still disputed island and coastal issues both states lay claim to
(hence why the Networkers operated near the disputed waters). Many
brave individuals smuggle people out of North Korea. This chapter is
the only one where SA faces off against the official armed forces of
a state. The recent naval skirmish as of writing this has been but
one of many in the past.

-Aum Shinrikyo: The
placing of the Japanese doomsday cult in Australia was primarily for
story reasons, and so SA would have a chance to deploy on all
continents (save Antarctica). But the real life cult of Aum Shinrikyo
still has spin-off sects existing. During its peak in the 1990s, the
cult produced germs and poison gas, and was attempting to acquire and
manufacture military hardware. Eventually, these ambitious plans were
scrapped in favor of a 'simpler' terrorist attack releasing sarin
nerve gas into the Tokyo subway.

-South African
Bioweapons: Apartheid era South Africa had an extensive biological
and chemical weapons program, Project Coast. It was headed up by Dr.
Wouter Basson, who tried to investigate "race specific"
bioweapons to use against blacks. Failing that, he produced drugs and
sold them on the black market for money. While he did not perform
human experiments, he did leave the country to act as a freelancer
after the apartheid era ended, and was involved in several murders.
He remains a free man today.

-Ecomercenaries: A
number of nature preserves in the developing world are unable to
defend themselves against attacks by poachers and warlords seeking
ivory or other goods from protected species. So, many have turned to
hiring mercenaries to do so. In the Congo and southeast Asia are two
locations currently doing it. The fictional warlord, the Condor, was
inspired by a real life Liberian warlord nicknamed "General Butt
Naked." He's even worse than the fictional depiction of him.

-Minneapolis: The
locations in Minneapolis were accurate. I personally visited all the
locations in the city shown in the story, from the hotel to the
skyways to the airport. It is a very interesting and beautiful city
to live in. I selected this because I wanted a chapter taking place
in the Midwest, and in a fairly unique location.

-Brazilian Favelas: On
the other end of the spectrum are the favelas. Many major cities in
Brazil have these. They are some of the most dangerous places to
live, full of crime, gangs, poor sewage systems and water, and worse.
However, many foreigners and wealthy people live nearby. They often
desire the cheap labor of the favelas, but detest having to have them
so close. The gangs in them are typically well armed, and they did
once bring down a police chopper. The police often are feared among
the locals, as law enforcement often goes in with gear similar to a
small army. Without it, they'd almost certainly be outgunned and
outnumbered.

-Parkour: Called "the
art of displacement," parkour was created as a way to move around
obstacles in the most efficient manner. The idea is to use an economy
of motion. It was developed in France by a martial artist, and son of
a firefighter named David Belle applying what he learned on the
obstacle course to things he'd find around his hometown. The name
"parkour" comes from the French word for "obstacle course."
It is more akin to a martial art than to an extreme sport, focusing
on non-competitive actions as opposed to showing off. Related is the
idea of freerunning, which is more associated with "stunts" than
just movement. Practitioners of parkour are called traceurs.

-Unit 731: Unit 731 was
an Imperial Japanese biological and chemical weapons research unit
established before World War II by Shiro Ishii. All of the human
experiments they performed were true, as was the fact they made a
deal with the American government at the end of the war to exchange
their data for legal protection (despite using American POWs as
laboratory fodder). Unlike the German human experiments, there were
no trials for any of the evil doctors, nor even any surviving
subjects. They did unleash plague-infested rats and dumped poisons
into the Chinese countryside at the end of the war for spite. Many
members went onto prosperous careers, such as founding academic posts
and medical research companies (some sick irony).

-Philippine
Inspirations: Pulo Pighati is a fictional island, but the Philippines
has plenty of rumors of lost Japanese loot. Yamashita's Gold has
lured many would be treasure hunters there, but has produced little
returns. No bioweapons were found in the Philippines in a manner
shown, but some creative license was used. The information about the
Zambales province and NPA was provided by two of my best sources:
Bien and Rica C. Thanks, you two! They will be the inspiration for
two major antagonist characters in the SA follow up. (Their
characters were the 'twins' mentioned in passing a few times.)

I thank you for
reading, and hope you enjoy some of my other writing! Feel free to
leave reviews and comments.

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